One tool
from LiquidPlanner helps project team members work more efficiently. Since
2007, Ellegro has used the LiquidPlanner product for efforts such as developing
new e-learning programs, says Lisa Statland, project manager, whose department
typically balances 20 to 30 projects simultaneously.

"The
company needed a portfolio-level approach to project tracking,” Statland says. “We
needed to see priorities, resources and timelines across multiple projects and
clients. We also needed to dynamically adjust the plans and see the forecasted
results, such as timelines, resource constraints and delivery dates."

By having
access to real-time updates on project development, Statland and other managers
can quickly shift priorities as needed, ensuring that the most important or
urgent projects get the attention they need.

LiquidPlanner
allows the company to consolidate project-related information in one place, so
developers and programmers, consultants, managers, senior executives and
customers can easily access information and collaborate on developments during
the course of a project.

The tool has
sliding schedule and packaging features that allow Statland to prioritize tasks
across multiple projects. It also provides a project portal that staffers use
to share documents, such as audio scripts and other content for classes. From
this portal, team members can have ongoing conversations, and review feedback,
status reports and documents in real time.

Ellegro is
also using the WebEx online conferencing platform for real-time collaboration
and meetings, as well as to demonstrate learning programs to customers. The
company, which needs to regularly share and demonstrate courseware and
technology tools, and perform troubleshooting, leverages WebEx for those
purposes, Stevens says.

Online
conferencing enables the company to reduce the need for travel. "It used
to be that if you wanted to demo something, you had to go to the client,"
Statland says. "Now we don't have to do that. WebEx doesn't [entirely]
replace face-to-face meetings, but if you need to explain something or talk
through something with a client, WebEx definitely facilitates doing that
without having to travel."

The company
estimates that WebEx saves it about $8,000 per project through reduced travel
and other expenses. Furthermore, employees save time by not having to plan and
take trips, which adds to their productivity.

Since 2001, Ellegro
has also leveraged an internally built development suite that gives project
teams a development platform to create e-learning courses and assessments. It
also enables internal and external collaboration, and It's working on a proprietary
collaboration tool for the Apple iPad.

Using online
collaboration tools can present some challenges, Forrester 's Schadler says.
Among the issues companies need to address are confidentiality, privacy and
data protection. "You're empowering your employees to use collaboration
tools, but do you also trust that they're going to do the right thing?" he
says.

" A few
years ago, the starting point for IT was that we didn't trust them,"
Schadler says. "But there is enough inevitability around social collaboration
that IT professionals have realized the best way to deal with the issue is to
have an information-sharing policy that human resources, marketing, corporate
communications, IT and legal work together to create." For example, the
policy would state what types of information should never be shared.

Another
challenge is getting employees to use new collaboration tools, which, in most
cases, they're not eager to do, Schadler says. "You might have a few
enthusiasts, but you won't have mainstream adoption," he says. "The
majority of employees are going to use email."

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